The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-03-15

and the last three cars, the ones that left the
track, were filled with passengers who had
taken the train at Dedham and the sta
tions between there and Forest Hill. AS
soon as the accident occurred word was sent
to the nearest station, and from there
the superintendent was notified by telegraph,
and messengers summoning surgical assistance
were sent out on horseback. Surgeons were at
once in attendance and the injured passengers
received prompt attention. In the meantime
force of men set to work to relieve those who
were pinned under the wreck and a wrecking-
train was made up and at once sent to the scene.
One hundred and fifty mattresses were obtained
at the City Hospital and sent to the scene Of the
| accident by special train, which also carried
| large number of surgeons, together with friends
of the passengers
| A gentleman who left the scene at 9 O'Clock
said that when he left some twenty bodies had
| been taken from the ruins, and that two of the
persons who were injured had been led to
the City Hospital. and died after reachi lere,
| from the effects of their injuries. The mber
of persons injured, he says, was very large.
The bridge where the accident occurred was one
over South street, and the gentleman says the
accident was due to the giving away of the struct-
ure under tho weight of the train. owing, doubt
less, to some hidden fault in the construction or
the material used. The news spread like wild
FIRE and people throneed to the scene by thou
sands. In a short time the place was crowded
| with people.
| An inspection Of the wreck reveals the fact
that the eight cars comprising the train are
jumbled into complete wreck, not one of the
coaches escaping almost perfect demolition.
From the location Of the wrecked cars it would
seem that the first three cars passed over the
bridge safely. The structure evidently gave way
when the fourth car was passing over t. The
hve rear cars went through to sne roadway,
| landing in a mass Of splnters in the street. The
| strain of the five falling cars pulled the three
| coaches in advance from the rails They re-
mained on top of the embankmens, ont we're
pulled off their trucks, and the floor O. eaoh was
forced nearly to the roof. while the seats vc.s
Jumbed together in great confusion. TIE end
of the second coach WAS a mass Of srlinfers,
caused by the car ahead grinding against ii when
the others went down the embankment The
third coach was flattened TO the ground as Il IL
had fallen on its trucks from great height. al
though it remained on the edge of the embank-
ment The roof Of the fourth car also remained
| on the embankment having evidently been
shaved clean from its fastenings when the coach
went through. The next four went down
in heap, the smoker which was on the rear Of
.ha train. falling in the midst of the coaches and
| being actually ground into small splin-
ters. The inmates OF The sr-nker were
all either killed CT injured, not ore escaping
without injury of sorne kind. Oneaf he coaches
went clear across sna rgadway. i&ndlpe against
stone wall that founded large 'ield at she fao:
OF hill As the cars lie IA their present Ioca.
tion, they present picture of such absolute
demolition that If seena remarkable thst any
person in them escaped I've Cushions from
the seats are scattered over the roadway and
into the adjacent past ure, while car wheels and
trucks are distributed in all directions. In the
mass of splinters in the roadway are pools of
blood, and occasionally portion of body can
be seen. Although such connected portions, of
human remains as are found are hurried away
to the morgue. still there pieces Of flesh to
| be seen sometimes fastened between timbers as
if actually gouged from some victim. Conductor
Tilden was in the third car, which remained on
| top of the embankment, and on the ground di-
recty underneath. where he was standing when
killed, is pool of blood. while half of the debris
OF the coach is spattered with blood Underneath
the coach were picked up the breast and lungs
of human being, possibly portion of the con-
ductors body.
That the horrors of fire were not added to the
terrible disaster was due to the promptness with
which relief was sent. The chemical engine
from Roslyndale was at the scene within twenty
minutes after the wreck occurred, brought by a
| letter-carrier who gave an alarm of fire upon
observing flames issuing from the debris.
The flames were soon extineuished, and
the fremen did excellent work in rescuing
the injured The stoves in all the cars were Sc
curely fastened to the floors by iron bolts and
the doors of the stoves were locked In only
one car did the stoves upset although in one
instance a stove was smashed clear through the
roof of the car in which it had been
The news of the disaster spread through the
city. and, in fact. through all this section, very
rapidly, and in short time the wreck was sur
rounded by an immense crowd Of people attract
ed by curiosity or in search of relatives and
friends, while every train to the vicinity of the
wreck was crowded with curious people, The
scenes just after the disaster were narrowing in
the extreme. The groans and shrieks of the in
jured people were heard by tae residents in the
neighborine houses Of which there were a mum
ber in the immediate vicinity. The only person
known to have been an witness of the dis
aster who was not on the train was j. H. Len
non, fish dealer, whose stable is located on the
hill just above the bridge. Lennon was har
Messing his team when the train came along
and turred to it pass He was horror
stricken when he the train take its awfu
plunge through the bridge For a moment
Lennon says. there perfect quiet and ther
the cries of the injured were heard issuing from
the debris. Selling an axe from the barn, Len
non started for the wreck which he reached
in moment. He chmed into window of ont
OF the coaches that had landed agains
the stone wall and set to work e
a1oae thnSa xutc Rod Noav ~ l1xr
by the broken timbers. Lennon with his ak
, released four men who were badly hurt, ant
handed them ont Of the window to other nier
who had come to the rescue. He also handed
ont the dead bodies of two uomap ono Of who,,